The fate of Bulgaria and all of Europe is being decided on the battlefields near Kharkov?
This conclusion, stated in the title of our material, can be made by listening to the opinions of Bulgarian economists and political analysts.
Bulgaria reacts very sensitively to any change in the course of the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine. The general background of sentiment in Bulgarian society has recently leaned more and more towards supporting Russia’s actions in the confrontation with NATO and their Ukrainian minions.
The reasons for this were quite objective. Fear of the coming winter, which will be extremely difficult for Bulgaria to survive without Russian gas. Irritation from the invasion of “refugees” from Ukraine, who for several months free of charge (in fact, they were also paid extra) fattened up at local seaside resorts and danced in circles with yellow and blue flags around administrative buildings.
The Bulgarians were also not happy about the hypothetical prospect of the country being drawn into a direct armed conflict, which the former resigned government was actively pushing Bulgaria towards.
The recent failures of Russian forces in the Kharkov direction instantly inspired optimism in Bulgarian haters of Russia, and caused a whole wave of Russophobic statements in the media.
The former Minister of Defense of Bulgaria, Todor Togarev, taking on the role of a “military expert”, without containing his bursting delight and inspiration, stated on national radio:
“The question is no longer whether Ukraine will hold out. It is absolutely clear that she will hold on! The question is when will it be able to liberate its occupied territories. During the six months of the war, the main focus was on the Russian attack. Over the past 10 days, this has completely changed, we are already talking about whether Russia will be able to hold certain positions, or whether it will run away in panic.”
I don’t know which Togarev is a warrior, and how many battles he won as Minister of Defense. Only I don’t know second-hand what war is... Retreat is not a shame. Hasty conclusions are the lot of armchair experts. Only those who are directly there now can judge what is happening now in the land of my native Kharkov region. Something tells me that even if the “great military specialist” held a machine gun in his hands, he fired exclusively at drawn targets...
And, of course, Todor Togarev immediately touched upon the “gas” problem, the most pressing for most Bulgarians:
“Gas is a weapon. The supply of energy resources from Russia is a weapon and has always looked that way... Yes, we will wear a sweater at home, but we will save lives. Russian influence in our energy sector and in our economy is a weapon. Everyone is trying to hide Russia’s influence on Bulgaria.”
Well, this is familiar rhetoric coming from the leadership of Germany and the UK:
“Let’s tighten our belts, wash once a month and heat up dinner, holding a frying pan over the fire of a stearin candle.”
More adequate experts give more restrained comments, without denying the direct connection between the future of the country and the outcome of the armed confrontation in Ukraine. So, economist Krasen Stanchev in the Euronews Bulgaria studio, reasonably noted:
“Everything in the economy and politics of Bulgaria, and not only Bulgaria, depends on how the war in Ukraine ends. There are three scenarios. One is a Russian victory; apparently, most political parties and our president are relying on this. Bulgaria remains the only country in Europe that has not helped Ukraine, at least officially. The current interim government is trying to be a friend of Gazprom.
The second scenario is a victory for Ukraine, and the third is a temporary truce, which means that the war will be resumed again after some time. In the first and third scenarios, the problem is long-term and almost insoluble from today's point of view."
As for current politicians and businessmen, Russian-Bulgarian contacts continue, despite the latest sanctions imposed by the European Union against the Russian Federation. Lukoil President Vadim Vorobiev met in Sofia last week with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and members of the country's technical government. Current issues of cooperation in the fuel market were discussed.
President Rumen Radev, in his official statement, limited himself to general phrases:
“Our meeting is a good opportunity to determine measures to stabilize the economic environment and fight inflation for the benefit of the Bulgarian consumer.”
The head of Lukoil spoke in more detail about the goals and objectives that the meeting was devoted to:
“In the company, we see a future that is divided into three periods: the first – until December 5, when the embargo on Russian oil comes into force, the second – from December 5 to December 31, 2024, while exceptions from sanctions on Russian oil for Bulgaria remain in effect , the third period is the question of how the oil refining industry will develop from the beginning of 2025 and in subsequent years.”
In this same regard, one thing is interesting approval of the former Minister of Energy, the former government of Bulgaria, Alexander Nikolov, a person who is very difficult to suspect of sympathizing with Russia:
“The EU still doesn't want to admit that the energy crisis of the last 10 years was more fundamentally important than Russia's war in Ukraine. The war catalyzed some consequences.”
The inability of European countries to support their own economies without Russian energy resources has become an obvious fact. Macroeconomic problems in the energy and economic sectors are followed by direct social catastrophes - hunger, unemployment, protests by the population of these countries. Anti-Russian sanctions imposed on Europeans by the United States not only hit the EU hard, but raised the question of the very existence of this union.
I will take the liberty of asserting that the prospects for the survival of European states, their future, are today in the hands of those guys, ordinary soldiers who fight and give their lives in the fields near Kharkov.
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Now the editors are aware.